


Derek's Either Gonna Propose or End up in Jail

by JurisfictionAgent99



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Black Friday, But Stiles insisted, Cute, Established Relationship, Fluff, Funny, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Not sure how so many innuendos ended up in here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-01-06 11:41:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1106397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JurisfictionAgent99/pseuds/JurisfictionAgent99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles loves crowds and being surrounded by people so Derek decides to propose to him in the mall on Black Friday. Upon arriving in the packed mall parking lot he realizes he has made a terrible mistake. Too bad Stiles's ring is waiting at the jewelers inside.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Derek's Either Gonna Propose or End up in Jail

"There, there, there," Stiles shouted.

"I see it."

"Damn, they got there first."

"I noticed."

"Try the next aisle."

"That one's full of cars."

"How about the one on the other side?"

"Yes, I see a spot."

"Go Derek, go."

"You fucking piece of shit!" Derek shouted as he laid on the horn. Some asshole had just come out of nowhere and cut in front of him. He'd had his blinker on and everything, but this doucebag had just stolen his parking spot. Derek was ready to get out of the car and rip that jerk's bumper off. Stiles was sitting next to him laughing his head off.

"You should see your face," Stiles said, giggling in his seat. He was loving this; watching Derek get so frustrated with the other drivers probably shouldn't be so entertaining but it was. 

Derek turned and bared his teeth at Stiles.

"Yeah yeah, you're the big bad wolf." Stiles dove in and kissed him on the nose. Derek just glared.

Twenty minutes later, twenty freaking minutes, Derek couldn't believe it, they finally found a spot.

"Let's go," Derek said as they got out of the car. He had not anticipated this kind of traffic. The ring had been ready that morning and he had planned to be engaged by now. If Stiles said yes. Of course he would say yes. Hopefully. Derek grabbed Stiles's hand and started walking purposefully toward the mall entrance.

"Whoa, careful. That's attached you know," Stiles chided Derek as he was fairly pulled along by his power-walking boyfriend.

Screaming children, arguing couples, pounding feet; sounds assaulted Derek's ears as he and Stiles entered the mall. They'd been forced to park on the opposite side of the mall to the jewelers so Derek was going to have to fight his way over, all while trying to keep Stiles from guessing what he was going to do.

"Derek are you listening to me?"

"Um, yeah."

"So you think I should get my dad a stripper for Christmas?"

"What??"

"Kidding. Don't worry; I wouldn't get you guys the same thing."

Derek rolled his eyes as Stiles dragged him towards the candy store.

"Free samples Derek. How can we pass that up?"

"Lead the way." He needed to figure out a way to distract Stiles and wade his way to the mall's end. How was it possible for there to be this many people at the mall? Where were all the Scrooges? Did this many people _really_ need to go gift shopping?

"Try this," Stiles said. Derek opened his mouth without thinking; a pretty common occurrence around Stiles. 

"What is that?"

"Chocolate covered cherry."

"Remind me to never put that in my mouth again."

"I thought you liked popping cherries, or maybe just popping mine." Stiles winked at him.

Derek blanched, "Stiles there are children here."

"They have no idea what we're saying."

"No, but the lady who's staring at me probably does," Derek said pointedly. He hurriedly grabbed a bag of something off the counter, it looked like chocolate covered pretzels, paid for them, handed them to Stiles and hustled him out of the shop. 

"Let's go this way," Derek said pulling Stiles to the right. He was looking at his boyfriend instead of where he was going and nearly slammed into a man carrying what seemed to be about ten shopping bags. Stiles wasn't expecting him to do that was he? Derek wasn't cut out for this. He just wanted to get the ring and go.

"Do we have a plan? I think most people come out here with a plan but we haven't which is clearly the first flaw in our plan, non-plan, whatever."

"You need a gift for Scott, your dad, and Melissa. I already got the pack gifts from us."

Stiles looked impressed. 

"Yes, sometimes I do plan ahead."

"Good boy," Stiles patted Derek's head.

"Let's go down to that hat shop and find your dad something." And if the hat shop just happened to be right across from the jewelers, well that was obviously just a coincidence. 

"No, I want to get him a new shirt."

Crap. The only store that sold the brand the Sheriff liked was back near the car. It had been hard enough getting this far; Derek already had to dodge four strollers, five small children, one of whom had been on a leash, and he didn't want to slide backwards.

"We can stop there on the way out. We've already come this far let's just keep going this way and make the full lap. How about getting Scott a hat?" Derek didn't think he'd seen Scott wear a hat a day in his life but he was getting desperate. It was too noisy, too crowded, and he should have had a fiancé two hours ago. He wanted that ring Now.

Derek dragged Stiles through the oncoming tide of shoppers. Three people bumped into him, one woman shouted in his ears, and-

"Why are my pants sticky?" Derek asked in disgust as he pulled his hand away from his pant leg.

Stiles looked down and laughed. "Hey if mall shopping does it for you, you're gonna love coming on Christmas eve."

Derek looked sharply at him, "That isn't what this is."

"Would you like it to be?" Stiles waggled his eyebrows. 

"We are in the middle of a mall full of people."

"Which seems to be your thing. Hey I'm not judging, I'll love you no matter what exhibitionist kinks you've been hiding from me."

"Shut up Stiles. Let's just get this over with and go home."

"There's the spirit."

"Come on," Derek maunvered them around someone offering to moisturizer his face. "Let's get to the hat shop. You should be able to find something for Scott okay?"

"You seem pretty keen on going there," Stiles smirked at Derek. "Is this your way of asking for a hat for Christmas. I gotta tell you, this is the opposite of subtle."

"Of course I don't want one."

" _Sure_ you don't sweetums. I _definitely_ won't get you a hat." He gave an exaggerated wink but Derek didn't care. If it got him closer to the ring he would gladly wear every hat in the damn store.

"Ooh churros!" Stiles said excitedly and steered Derek into the food court.

The lines in this place were nuts; it would take twenty minutes just to get to the counter to order. Why did Stiles need a churro now? They ate before they left the house. On the other hand, perhaps Derek could get away while Stiles was in line.

"How about you get a churro while I run and buy something?" Derek suggested. "You'll probably still be in line by the time I get back."

"Are you getting a surprise for me?" 

"If I tell you-"

"It won't be a surprise. Yeah, yeah, I've heard that before. Fine, run along. I'll call you when I get out of line."

"Perfect." Derek kissed Stiles and left him to fend for himself in the throng of hungry, aggravated shoppers.

Yes. Derek was finally free. He maneuvered through the crowds as quickly as he could. There was a staircase to his left and he took the steps two at a time. Dodging the people and their many bags felt like agility training; good thing Derek had been keeping up his workout routine. An overexcited kiosk attendant to his left, a group of chattering teenagers to his right, he bobbed and weaved and then, he saw it: the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the jewelry store; and the huge line outside it.

Derek walked quickly up to the employee guarding the door.

"I've already made a purchase I just need to pick it up."

"If you'll just step to the back of the line, you can enter the store shortly."

"But I don't need to buy anything new, I just need to pick up a ring."

"The line starts over there. If you'll just join it you'll be inside soon."

"I don't even need to pay for it. I've done that already," Derek tried to reason with the employee. He didn't have that much time to get in and back to Stiles. He needed to get in that store now.

"I'm sorry sir but you must step to the end of the line."

Derek wanted to scream in frustration as he stomped to the back of the line. None of the other jewelers had lines to get in; just his luck he picked the store having some kind of sale.

"So what are you getting here?" asked the girl standing in front of him.

"What?" Derek hadn't been paying attention. He'd been craning his neck trying to see how many people were still in the store.

"I asked what you were getting here. I'm looking for a new pair of earings, they're half off today. Do you know how good a deal that is, I mean-"

"A ring," Derek cut her off. Why was she telling him all this? "I'm getting an engagement ring." 

"Really, that is so sweet. When are you going to propose? Do you have a plan? It's so great when guys have a plan."

A plan? "Um.." Derek's plan so far consisted of getting the ring and saying 'Will you marry me?' to Stiles somewhere in the mall. He should probably have thought this out more.

"It's okay," the girl reassured him, "I'm sure they'll love whatever you do. Just say it from the heart and you be fine."

Oh good, articulating his feelings, Derek's strong point.

He looked at his watch, fifteen minutes had already passed. How had that happened? He'd just left Stiles a minute ago. He bounced on the balls of his feet as though that would make the line move faster. So far only one person had been let in since he'd arrived.

Derek's phone ran.

"Hey there sweet cheeks, I just got my churro. Where are you? I'm headed toward the hat shop."

Derek had to get out of here; Stiles couldn't see him in a jewelry line. He was clever enough by far to put two and two together. 

"I'm um, I'm at," Derek looked around quickly to try and find a store he could pretend to be looking in, "Victoria Secret!" he slapped his forehead. Really, he couldn't come up with anything better than that?

On the other end of the phone Stiles was laughing.

"I'm learning so much about you today Derek," Stiles was trying to stifle his laughter, "You know you don't have to hide your love of lacy panties from me, but none of the stuff in that store is going to hold you."

Derek groaned into his hand. Stiles just laughed more. While he was on the phone Derek had been making his way to Victoria Secret and was waiting outside when Stiles found him.

"I do know a website that caters to men," Stiles told him as he came up and kissed Derek. 

Well, Derek thought, if nothing else at least he knew he had a supportive boyfriend. But still no ring. Okay, time to come up with another distraction.

"Since we're over here I want to stop and get a cardigan for Melissa," Stiles said.

"Which store?"

"It's downstairs."

"Okay, you go pick one and I'll meet you downstairs in a while."

"Don't you need to get her something too? Just come with me and we can both be finished shopping for her."

Stiles made a good point. Derek didn't have anything for her yet and he might as well go with Stiles. Also, he didn't want to raise suspicion by protesting too much.

"Fine, let's do it quickly."

"Not too quickly, we want to find something nice."

"Fast and nice. We can do it. You still need to get other gifts so I'm just saying we don't want to waste all our time in this one store."

"You really hate this don't you?" Stiles asked, taking pity on Derek. "Look, we'll find something as fast as we can and get the others quickly too. We'll be home before you know it."

"Thank you," Derek said somewhat relieved. He still didn't know how he was going to get away but at least this hadn't blown up into an argument; it would have been so easy to let his frustration spill over and he didn't want to fight with Stiles right before asking him to make a lifetime commitment. It felt like poor planning. 

Apparently everyone and their aunt had decided that cardigans were the go to gift this year; the store was packed. The 70% off sign outside had drawn them like flies to honey. Derek should break it over his knee. Maybe that would make them stop flooding in. 

"That gold one's nice," Stiles said pointing to a sweater hanging on the wall. "Do you think Melissa would like it?" 

"Yes, let's get it."

"You didn't even look," Stiles protested.

Derek looked. It looked like a regular sweater. That should be fine for Melissa.

"I've looked. It's fine. Let's grab it."

Derek weaved his way to the wall, keeping a firm grip on Stiles's hand. He didn't want to get separated in this mess. When the sweater was within reach he grabbed one and started to walk to the cashier.

"No, no. You have to check the size. We can't just get any one."

Derek looked at the one in his hand: XL. That probably wouldn't have gone over well. Stiles handed him a smaller size and put the over-large sweater back on the wall.

"Okay Derek, this one should be fine. Now you need to pick one and we can get out of here."

Derek looked at all the clothes on the tables surrounding him but nothing seemed right for Melissa. Even if he was in a hurry she deserved more than just the first thing he saw. 

"What do you think she would like?" Derek asked Stiles. He knew her taste better.

"Umm..," Stiles looked around. "How about that one over there?" He pointed at a soft looking blue button up that Derek liked the look of.

"Works for me. Let's grab it."

Stiles took the lead, pulling Derek through spaces no human should have been able to fit through, in order to reach the blue cardigan. This time Derek looked at sizes before taking one and now all that stood between him and getting out of this store was...a checkout line twenty people deep. Derek whined in distress and tried not to upend the table closest to him.

Stiles looked at Derek, "How about I pay for these two," he took the cardigan out of Derek's clenched fist, "And you go where ever it is you don't want me to know about."

Wonderful Stiles. Perfect Stiles. This was just what Derek needed. Derek pulled him in and kissed Stiles throughly. He knew he had the best boyfriend in the world.

"Call me when you're done," Derek told a slightly dazed Stiles as he left the store.

Derek practically ran to the jewelers.

"Back of the line," the employee at the door said before Derek could even open his mouth. He must have recognized him from earlier. Derek didn't bother to waste time arguing, just went to the back and considered paying the people in front to let him go first. If he'd had more cash on him he probably would have done it.

Two people just left. Yes! Things were going better than the first time. He looked in the window and saw a couple picking out rings agonizingly slowly. Who came ring shopping on Black Friday?! This was not the time to meander through the diamonds, this was the time to get in and out as fast as possible. Derek started to growl but quickly turned it into a cough when the woman in front of him started to turn around. 

The line moved forward one foot. Progress. The couple was still giggling over rings. It had taken Derek three days and seven jewelers to find Stiles's ring; those two would be in there till nightfall. Luckily the window was too far away for Derek to bang his head against since he probably would have shattered the thing. 

Another man left and the line move forward another foot. Now only five people were between Derek and the ring. He wanted to get it as quickly as possible once he finally got inside so he brought out his wallet and took out the receipt for the ring. It was right where he left it, thankfully. For a moment he had panicked and thought he'd left it at home. Nope, it was right here, in his hand, ready to be traded for a ring. 

Good, one more patron out the door. Derek was ready to start cheering every time someone left, but that would probably seem strange.

When only two people stood between him and getting inside, Derek's phone started ringing.

"Hello Stiles. Have you paid yet?"

"Yep, just finished. Where are you?"

"Surprise remember. I can't tell you."

"But I want to know. Come on, tell me _please_."

"No, you're just going to have to wait." Not for much longer, Derek didn't think he would be able to keep from proposing the minute he saw Stiles.

"Now I really to know. How about a hint, just one tiny itsy bitsy hint."

"It's for you."

"Wow, like I didn't already know that."

"You didn't ask for a good hint."

"Fine, fine. But what am I supposed to do while I wait for you?"

"Just walk around the mall."

"What if I bump into you?"

Should Derek tell him to wait downstairs or was this just Stiles fishing for information? He would _probably_ stay downstairs if Derek asked him to, but he might also wander around, forget, and come up and find Derek. Better to get him to do something that would keep him stationary.

Derek rattled his brain and finally remembered something he had seen downstairs.

"Why don't you go see Santa?" Derek asked Stiles. He was usually into that sort of thing. Probably he would jump at the chance.

"That's a great idea. Where is it?"

"At the end of the mall. Just turn left out of the store with the sweaters and walk until you see him."

"Will you be done by the time I reach the front of the line? We should get our picture taken together."

"No, you go. I'll be fine."

"But Derek, it would be so cute. You and me sitting on the big guy's lap, we could blow it up and put in on the mantel."

Derek rubbed his forehead. That sounded like something Stiles would actually do.

"No, seriously. Just go without me. If I can make it down I will but if not just go ahead and take the picture."

"It would be better with you in it," Stiles wheedled. 

"I'll try. But no promises."

"Good enough for me. I'll go get in line. Love you."

"Love you too." Derek hung up. No one had left the store while he'd been talking to Stiles but at least he'd bought himself some time. Stiles wouldn't be too upset if he missed the picture right? He hoped so.

Ten minutes later, receipt clutched in his fist, Derek was finally in the store. He walked quickly to the first free sales clerk he saw.

"I have a ring to pick up," Derek told the woman as he thrust the paper at her.

"Let me just take a look at that," she said, taking the paper. She looked over it carefully. Why was she still standing there? Shouldn't handing over the paper set off a militaristic chain reaction of her quickly scanning the paper, finding the pertinent information, racing to a secret vault, retrieving Derek's prize and bringing it to him in seconds flat? Didn't she know what a rush he was in. It should go: paper, ring, done. None of this lolling about. 

"Let me go get the ring for you," she finally said. Great, a step in the right direction. Derek hoped she would run from behind the counter to where the ring was but she walked sedately over to the back room instead and disappeared inside. 

This was it, the ring was coming, Derek could feel it. Soon he would have it in his hand, he would find Stiles, try desperately to say what was in his heart, and then...he would be engaged. Derek realized he was smiling like an idiot and quickly schooled his expression into something more grim. 

Which turned out to be more appropriate to the situation since the sales woman emerged from the room without the ring.

She walked over to another salesman and whispered in his ear; the two went back to the storeroom together, looking concerned. Concerned was bad, concerned expressions didn't need to be anywhere near Derek's ring. Although judging by the fact she still didn't have the ring, they weren't.

Had someone stolen the ring? Had they lost it? Forgotten to ready it for him? Derek felt like stomping his feet like a child. Where was his ring?? Oh great, Stiles was calling again. He couldn't possibly be done with Santa already; those things were always full of people.

"What?" Derek barked into the phone. He tried to recover quickly, "My love. What's up, my love."

"My love? That's new. I like it. There are like three families in front of me. You should be able to make it right?"

"Um..," Derek looked to the storeroom where the pair had vanished to. This was not the time for an workplace tryst. They had better be frantically searching for his ring.

"Please Derek, I really want to get our picture taken together."

"I'll try. Maybe let someone go before you if I'm not there."

"Good idea. See you soon honey bunches of oats."

Derek smiled in spite of himself. He always said he didn't like the nicknames but Stiles knew better and kept using them.

"Bye. I'll try to be there soon."

He looked over at the room, trying to see through the door. Three minutes, that felt like three hours, later the saleswoman came out alone.

"I'm sorry sir, but we're having some trouble locating your ring."

Hold it in, hold it in.

"What the hell does that mean!"

He didn't hold it in.

"Please sir, try to calm down."

"I am calm! I was called yesterday and told that my ring was ready. They said it would be here waiting for me today. So where is it?"

"I should be in the back vault-"

"But?"

"We are having a bit of trouble locating it."

Derek felt he was deserving of a prize for not putting his fist through the glass counter top.

"I need that ring."

"I understand. If you could just wait a little while longer I'll go back and look again. I'm sure it's in there somewhere."

She tried to sound sincere but Derek knew she was lying. What was he going to do? He was bursting with the need to ask Stiles to marry him but he couldn't ask without the ring. Stiles was too important to be on the receiving end of some half-assed ring-free proposal. 

He could buy another ring, but it wouldn't be the right one. Looking down at the display case Derek could tell that none of these rings would be right for Stiles. It had the be the one he'd picked before. 

He looked up when he heard the door open, and yes, they both emerged looking triumphant. They had found the ring. Derek breathed deeply in relief. He would be able to ask Stiles today.

"My deepest apologies," the saleswoman said. She handed Derek the ring box. He took it carefully, not wanting to hurt the ring, and looked inside. 

It was perfect. The ring was just the way he remembered. This was the one he wanted to see on Stiles's finger. He clutched the box to his chest. Until he showed it to Stiles he wasn't letting this box go. 

"If you would just sign for the ring, verifying that it is in fact the correct one and you are fully satisfied with it." She handed him a form to sign. Derek signed quickly.

"I can go now?"

"Yes sir. You are free to leave with the ring. Have a nice day and I hope you get the answer you're looking for."

"Thank you. Have a good one." Derek left the shop quickly. 

He pulled out his phone and called Stiles. Maybe he could still make the photo. 

"Where are you? I'm next in line."

"I'm on my way. Should be there in just a minute."

"Hurry."

"Okay. See you soon."

This was it, the final hurdle. All Derek had to do was get from the jewelers upstairs to Santa downstairs and then he was home free. To ask the single most important and nerve racking question of his life; no biggie. He took a deep breath, put the ring box in his pocket and planned his route: across the hall, down the stairs, straight down the aisle to Stiles. He could do this.

He took off at a jog toward the stairs. Running full out seemed a bad idea and using the small children as hurtles probably wouldn't go over well. He just dodged them instead. A wild stroller appeared in front of him and he jolted to a stop to avoid tumbling over it. It passed and he was at the stairs.

He kept a hand on the railing as he raced down. 

First floor. Good, he was halfway there; but he was stuck on the bottom step. People walked passed in a nonstop stream and he couldn't find an opening; he should have played more frogger as a child. Group of teens, family of five, delivery person who clearly had no idea deliveries went through the back, Derek kept trying to move forward only to have one more person walk in front of him. Finally he said screw it and pushed his way through, politeness be damned. It wasn't like Stiles could see him right now anyway.

He went left and stayed close to the middle of the aisle as he walked to Stiles. This was it. He had the ring, Stiles was waiting, just a few more minutes and he would be engaged! Stiles would say yes right? Had this been a good idea? He wanted to ask somehwere Stiles would like and this had seemed like a good idea when he'd thought of it. But what if Stiles hated it? Maybe he would want this to be private? Would it be better with his father around? 

The thoughts were pouring in and starting to overwhelm Derek. For a second he thought about turning around and hiding in the car. But no, he would have to ask eventually and the sooner the better. Stiles loved him, he loved Stiles. It was going to be fine. 

The picture place was made up to look like the north pole and the line wrapped around the entire setup. He couldn't see Stiles but knew that he was at the front of the line. He went as close to the front of the line as he could but Stiles was still nowhere to be found, he must be inside somewhere.

"Excuse me," Derek said to a father waiting in line. "My boyfriend is waiting for me at the front of the line, would you mind letting me in?" Derek could be polite when he needed to be.

The man looked tired, he had a kid sitting on each foot, but he smiled politely and let Derek in.

"Thanks, I really appreciate this."

The next three families also let him through with no problem once he explained the situation. And then came the Problem. The last person standing between Derek and Stiles. 

"Excuse me, I need to get by. My boyfriend's waiting for me," Derek said to a woman pushing a double stroller. 

"Just where do you think you're going? My kids are next. Go to the back of the line," she said snappishly.

"I understand. But someone is waiting for me inside I just need to get to him."

"I don't think so. I've been waiting for thirty minutes and you can't just come along and cut in front of me."

"I'm not trying to cut in front of you. Like I already said, my boyfriend is waiting. I'm just trying to get to him."

"Well I don't care. If you wanted to take your picture together you should have gotten in line together."

"Well I had to-"

"Go to the back of the line."

"No. He's waiting for me so if you'll just let me pass."

Derek tried to edge around her but she moved her stroller to block his way.

"Now really see here. I'm not trying to cut in front of you or your kids. He's been waiting and I just want to get to him."

"My kids have been waiting patiently, _together_ I might add, and you are not getting in front of them. Do you know how hard it is to get two two year olds to wait for anything for half an hour?"

"Yes I'm sure they've behaved splendidly but-"

"It's very hard. And now you come waltzing in and try to get in front of them. I don't think so."

"Now see here," Derek was aggravated. "I am Not trying to get in front of them-"

"Are you yelling at me? Where do you get off yelling at me? I should have you thrown out of line for that," she shouted at him. 

At this point Derek was either gonna propose or end up in jail, because he was ready to fight this woman, children or not. All she had to do was let him pass. He wasn't cutting, it wouldn't put her further back in line. Seriously, she just had to let him so he could get to Stiles. What about that could possibly be so difficult for her to understand?

"Ma'am," he said as politely as he could through gritted teeth. "I am not yelling at you, or cutting in front of you. I have someone waiting for me and I just need to get to him. So if you. will. _please_ let me pass, I would really appreciate it." And with that he put on his most threatening glare, pushed her stroller, gently, out of the way, and stalked passed her.

"Stiles there you are," Derek said as soon as he saw him. Not caring who was looking, didn't Santa have twenty-four hour survalliance on them all anyway, he grabbed Stiles and kissed him deeply. He was so relieve to finally be next to Stiles he couldn't help himself. 

"Well hello to you too. I'm glad you made it. I only had to let one group go before me."

"Good, good," Derek said distractedly. Now that he was here he had no idea what to do. Should he go ahead and ask now or wait till after the picture, or during the picture? And what on earth was he going to say? Stiles marry me; no too harsh it sounded like an order. Stiles please please marry me; no he didn't want to beg. Stiles I love and adore you, will you marry me; maybe, but it seemed too sappy for Derek, but it did cover all the bases. 

He looked at Stiles. Oh no what was he asking? Derek had completely spaced out and missed whatever Stiles had been saying. Derek just nodded along in agreement.

"Good, so that's settled. Should make for a good picture."

What would make for a good picture? Just as he was about to ask Stiles to repeat his idea the attendant called them forward. It was their turn.

As they were walking to Santa Derek decided he was going to ask here and now. He wanted a picture of the moment Stiles said yes. He been told this was an important thing to capture on film and this was his best chance to do it.

Derek walked over to the cameraman and started to explain the situation.

He whispered, "I'm about to propose and I would really like-"

"Derek what are you doing over there? You have to be _in_ the picture. Come here."

"Just a second Stiles." He turned back to the cameraman, "If you would just take the picture after I ask and he says yes. Which I think he will say. I'm pretty sure."

"I'm sure he will," the cameraman said encouragingly. 

"Derek come here."

"In a second."

"So you'll ask, and I'll snap the photo when he says yes."

"Exactly. I really appreciate this."

"No problem. This is a sweet way to do it."

Stiles was seated impatiently on Santa's lap, "Derek come on. Stop flirting with the cameraman and get over here."

"I'm not flirting," Derek said indignantly.

"I know, I know. Now come on. Sit with me."

Derek huffed and jogged over. He had decided to go traditional and started to get down on bended knee. 

"No, no, not like that. Sit on his other leg."

"Stiles I know what I'm doing." 

"But you agreed, we each take a leg."

"I know, but I have another plan."

"But you agreed. Now stop fumbling with your pants and get on his lap."

"I'm not fumbling," Derek protested.

"I can dress up as Santa for you later if that's what you want but for now all we're doing is taking a picture so get your hand out of your pants and sit on his lap."

"Stiles my hand is not in my pants," Derek said. Now he couldn't even look the Santa in the eye. 

"Sure sure. Just get on his lap please. I want this picture to be perfect. Just get up off the floor."

"Give me a minute. I want to do something first."

"What do you need to do now? We just need to take the picture and get out of here."

"Yes, but first-"

"Whatever it is can wait."

"No I really need to do this now." Derek could hear the cameraman laughing quietly.

"Seriously Derek, the picture will take like two seconds and then you can do whatever you need to once we're out of here. And really, why is your hand still down your pants?"

"My hand is not down my pants."

"Yes it is, I can see it."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is, it's right there. I can-"

Derek finally managed to drag the box out of his pocket and snap it open, "Stiles would you be quiet and let me propose to you!" he shouted in frustration. 

And that was how a 24"x36" canvas of Derek on bended knee, holding the ring like he was about to throw it while looking furiously at a shocked Stiles sitting on Santa's lap, ended up on the mantel. It became Stiles's favorite story to tell people; Derek blushing every time he did. Stiles even made it part of his wedding toast. For the rest of his life Derek was never gonna live this down. But as long as he got to live his life with Stiles, he didn't care.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Comments are greatly appreciated.
> 
> Check out my [tumblr](http://kaylee88.tumblr.com) for updates about future fics.


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